About | Canadian Doctors Orchestra

The Canadian Doctor's Orchestra

The Art of Healing

Our Vision

The Canadian Doctors Orchestra is an emerging national initiative envisioned as a project-based ensemble for healthcare professionals/students including (but not limited to) physicians, residents, nurses and medical students from across Canada. Inspired by the long-standing tradition of the Australian Doctors Orchestra, we aim to unite medical professionals who share a dual mastery: a dedication to the healing arts and a high-caliber passion for symphonic music.

The Model

Recognizing the geographic vastness of our country, the CDO is designed to operate on an intensive "residency" model. Our goal is to gather twice a year, transitioning from clinics and operating rooms to a host Canadian city for a concentrated weekend of rehearsals. These sessions will culminate in a public gala performance featuring world-class repertoire and showcasing Canadian composers and soloists.

Our Mandate

The CDO is founded on a triple mandate:

Philanthropy: To use music as a vehicle for social good, with 100% of concert proceeds donated to healthcare-related charities within the host province.

Healthcare Wellness: To provide a vital creative outlet in an era of high burnout, fostering "peer-to-peer" connection and resilience through collective artistry.

National Unity: To celebrate the diversity of the Canadian medical community by rotating performances coast to coast, providing a platform for pan-Canadian cultural exchange.

Looking Ahead: Our Path to Launch

As we work toward making this vision a reality, our immediate focus is on building the foundation of the CDO. We are currently:

Establishing a National Registry: We are building a database of Canadian healthcare-musicians to gauge interest and ensure representation from every province and territory.

Securing Pilot Funding: We are partnering with health-care organizations and arts patrons to fund our inaugural concert

Interested?

Meet the Team

Founder and Director

Andrew Loe

Andrew Loe is a first-year medical student at the University of British Columbia and a violist with over a decade of orchestral experience. Alongside his medical training, he has continued to cultivate a deep and lasting commitment to music, which has remained an important part of his life for many years. As a performer, Andrew values the discipline, collaboration, and sense of connection that ensemble playing brings, and he is grateful for opportunities to continue making music at a high level while pursuing a career in medicine.

Over the course of his musical career, Andrew has performed in more than 10 countries, gaining a wide range of experience through international performance opportunities. His background in orchestral playing spans many years and has shaped his musicianship through both large ensemble and collaborative settings. In addition to his extensive orchestral experience, he has been actively involved in chamber music for the past seven years, developing a particular appreciation for the precision, communication, and artistry that small ensemble playing demands.

Andrew’s chamber music work remains a central part of his musical life. His current quartet was recently selected as a finalist in the Friends of Chamber Music Competition, an achievement that reflects both his dedication to ensemble playing and his continued growth as a collaborative musician. Across orchestra, chamber music, and international performance, his musical accomplishments speak to a long-standing passion for excellence, connection, and shared artistry.

Andrew is especially excited to be part of the Canadian Doctors Orchestra, where he can bring together his interests in medicine and music while performing alongside fellow physicians and trainees who share a love of orchestral music.

Social Media Director

Sophie Hillstrom

Sophie is a Violist and Educator originally from Seattle, WA. She moved to Victoria in 2021 to study music at the University of Victoria, from where she now holds a Bachelor of Music. Sophie is an active performer and community member in the Greater Victoria music scene. She has performed in many orchestras and chamber groups, and she loves playing in various styles such as historical performance practice, musical theater, and studio recording. Sophie is an instructor at various musical education programs around Southern Vancouver Island and a community member, currently residing on the board of the Early Music Society of the Islands. In her free time, you can find her at the gym, exploring downtown, or attempting some swings at the driving range. To learn more about her, see her website here (https://sites.google.com/view/sophie-hillstrom-music/home?pli=1).

Co-founder and Treasurer

Andrea Kenney

Andrea Kenney was raised on the traditional territory of the Tsawwassen First Nation, and is currently residing on the traditional territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) Peoples. She is in the final semester of her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Victoria, and looking forward to beginning her master’s degree in Health Services Research at the University of Calgary in the fall. Her academic and professional work focuses on ageing, brain injury, and community well-being.

Andrea is currently the honours student in the University of Victoria’s Indigenous Mental Health and Well-Being Lab, where her research explores the relationship between cultural continuity and health in Indigenous communities. Andrea has contributed to multiple research projects in neuropsychological rehabilitation labs at the University of Victoria, including large evidence syntheses examining mental health and addictions in brain injury populations.

In addition to her research, Andrea has experience in community support roles and program development, including work in brain injury services, crisis intervention, and sexualized violence prevention initiatives. When not studying, Andrea can be found at the gym or Maude Hunter’s trivia.

Outreach and Marketing Director

Brendan Schmidt

Brendan Schmidt serves as Outreach and Marketing Director. He brings strong project management abilities, healthcare and health informatics expertise, and a collaborative problem-solving mindset developed through his Health Information Science degree at the University of Victoria, which he completed in 2025. During his studies, Brendan also completed three co-op placements with various health authorities, where he gained practical experience working on healthcare systems, data, and organizational processes.

Brendan is currently deciding whether to continue his studies with a Master’s in Health Informatics at the University of Victoria or to enter the workforce. Recently, he underwent a bone marrow transplant in Vancouver and is recovering well. Through his work with the Canadian Doctors Orchestra, Brendan hopes to contribute to a meaningful initiative that brings together healthcare professionals while supporting charitable causes

Land Acknowledgement

This project is led by a team of executives who are based primarily at the University of Victoria. The University of Victoria is situated on traditional and unceded Coast Salish territory. We acknowledge with respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

We respectfully acknowledge that this project spans across not simply the Province of British Columbia, but also many diverse Nations with varied traditions and grounded place-based relationships. In seeking to approach this community-engaged project in a good way in partnership with Indigenous-serving organizations, we collectively aim to approach our work in a way that deeply respects the ancestral and unceded territories with diverse relationships and connections to the lands and waters where our work takes place.